Company cites performance issues and client feedback as reasons for the termination
As hiring in US rises, with resulting cost pressure, these staffers in India are at risk; advent of digital tech another reason
India CMD Ramkumar Ramamoorthy clarified Cognizant would continue hiring, and that the earlier job-cut announcement was but a small one, considering the company had around 290,000 employees globally
A Nasdaq-listed IT services firm, Cognizant had said last week that it was planning to cut around 13,000 jobs
Though reducing headcount will help control cost, the CEO has to overcome the cultural issues associated with the layoffs.
Reduction to be around two per cent of the company's headcount
Cognizant announced measures including reduction in job count in the coming quarters apart from exiting content moderation business
Its revenue grew 4.2 per cent to $4.25 billion in the third quarter, compared to $4.07 billion in the year-ago period
Cognizant had about 500 workers in India's southern city of Hyderabad looking for sensitive topics or profane language in Facebook videos
Transaction likely to close in fourth quarter of 2019, subject to regulatory approvals
India is a critical part of Cognizant and will continue to be so, says Humphries
Humphries, who took over the reins of the company earlier this year, said he has spent the past few months in marathon meetings with clients and employees
Narayanan, who had hired a young Ramamoorthy, says he has reinvented himself several times over the past 20 years
Ramamoorthy, who has been with the company for more than 21 years, played a leading role in developing many of the company's India-based portfolios
A Cognizant spokesperson said that the company may not be able to comment on the development since it has not officially received a copy of the order
Experts say this is a step in the right direction for the firm to regain its competitive edge
Cognizant is also exercising tighter control over expenses through a number of measures, including a slower pace of hiring and reduced travel expenses
Cognizant is also focussing on higher-value services like digital as it chases higher margins
The move comes at a time when the company is optimising its employee pyramid apart from rationalising its SG&A expenses
Discussions around the change in compensation have just begun